Health benefits cut for adults with Medicaid

Health benefits for low-income adults enrolled in the state's Medicaid program will be significantly scaled back beginning this week.

The Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System will cut coverage for basic health services such as physicals, most dental care, podiatry, some organ transplants and other programs.

The state also will slash benefits for medical equipment such as insulin pumps, hearing aids, cochlear implants, computer-controlled lower limbs and joints, and other equipment.

Administrators say the cuts, which take effect Friday, are necessary to deal with the state's budget crisis and an increase in the number of enrollees during the bad economy. The benefits cuts will save an estimated $20 million through the end of June. More than 1.3 million Arizonans were enrolled in the state's Medicaid program as of Sept. 1.

"When you are in a situation where there isn't any money, and you have to make reductions, there were very hard choices that had to be made," said Monica Coury, AHCCCS spokeswoman.

Coury said the budget cuts, mandated by the Legislature, came after a review of medical and statistical data that included input from doctors and other medical professionals.

Some of the cuts were quite specific. For example, the state no longer will cover organ transplants for people who have hepatitis C. Other transplants that will no longer be covered include lung, some heart and bone-marrow transplants. Also, pancreas transplants will not be covered when they follow kidney transplants.